Virtual Meals to Form a Magic Circle of Creativity, Challenge, and Collaboration

With live events, we enter a magic circle that is difficult to replicate with virtual events, (as you know as you’ve attended numerous online meetings, classes, and events this past 18 months).

We’ve done a ton of research and found that a combination of platforms allows us to create better experiences and unity. For our Sententia Gamification Master Craftsman Certification (Level 3) that we'll be leading virtually the week of June 14-18, we've been engaged in pre-event challenges on WhatsApp for the past 30 days and will use both Zoom for general sessions and Remo.co for small group and design interactives.  

Social distancing doesn’t mean that you can’t connect with people or experience a touch-free friendship. Challenge #6 this week was to schedule a Zoom Breakfast, Lunch, Brunch, Coffee, or Happy Hour with at least one cohort member. 

We included a few ground rules:

• Maximum # of People Per Zoom Call: Three (Design Note:  We made this 3 rather than 2 because our group overall scores low to average on social contact - so for some a one-on-one interaction could be extremely uncomfortable regardless of the heavily weighted in-game currency value.)
• Wear clothes: Be as presentable as you would at a lunch at the local lunch spot bistro. Business casual can include shorts and flip flops – but at least make an effort.
• Eat and drink: Treat it like an actual meal, not a casual FaceTime chat. There’s something about the act of consuming food or beverages that makes the ritual more meaningful and structured.
• Skip the small talk: Make the conversation meaningful and interesting. No need to talk about the traffic or the humidity. Make a list of three or four topics you’d like to cover, and jump in.
• Work around time zones: Have a Zoom lunch in North Carolina while a California friend has breakfast or a friend in Europe has dinner. There’s always an appropriate meal, no matter what time of day. (As demonstrated in the picture below. Mohamed is in Saudi Arabia, Rasha is in Virginia, and Tabatha is in Texas.) Delightful!!
• Ask for a tour: Take a peek at people’s houses or workplaces. Ask you meal partner to pan around or take you on a short walk through their space or to show pictures or memorabilia that is especially meaningful to them. It’s fascinating.

The challenge is to do at least 1 Zoom meal over the next 10 days – however there is NO LIMIT.

• ONLY 3 PEOPLE PER ZOOM meal
• 30-60 minutes in length
• Each Zoom meeting is worth 1,000 gold coins.

Groups could verify their meeting by taking a screen shot and post it in the WhatsApp group with the names of the attendees and what made the call meaningful to you.

This simple virtual meal challenge, is helping us to to form that magic circle of creativity, challenge, and collaboration.